Fayt and the Chocolate Factory
by Andyouthinkimcrazy
Summary: AxF CxF Shounenai Fayt wants to know how chocolate is made, so his Aunt Sophia takes him for a tour at a nearby chocolate factory but Fayt gets separated from his aunt and the tour group. Of course he's not just going to give up...
1. Auntie Sofa

Prologue: Auntie Sofa  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: I don't own SO3 or any of its characters, and I don't make money from this story.  
Pairings: AlbelxFayt and CliffxFayt (love triangle..? lol)  
Genre: Romance, Humor (sort of, on both accounts)  
Warnings: OOC, character bashing (probably… not sure), shounen-ai.  
A/N: I doubt this first chapter is very funny, and I'm not even sure if the next few chapters will be any better; I guess this won't be an extremely funny story, but it's a good category for it. This story isn't going to have anything to do with the movie, 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' (don't own), however, I did get the idea while I was humming a song from the movie. That's all.

Fayt and the Chocolate Factory  
Prologue: Auntie Sofa  


"Mom! Mom!" stubby little fingers tugged persistently at Maria's skirt followed immediately by her chanted title. Slowly she looked down at the child with a crop of blue hair framing a face with bright green eyes and pouting lips.

"What is it, Fayt?" She asked in her ever patient voice; one would think it was acquired after years of mothering, though it was in Maria's nature to be calm and composed.

"Mom, how is chocolate made?" None would see it, but Maria faltered as she looked at her child; that was something she didn't know, but if she said so Fayt would pester her until she did find out.

"Mommy's busy right now; but, I bet if you ask nicely, your Aunt Sophia will take you to a chocolate factory to find out."

The young child's eyes lit up excitedly and he turned to sprint to the other end of the house, "Auntie Sofa! Auntie Sofa!"

Maria chuckled and turned back to her work, no sooner had she picked up her pen and arranged her papers did she hear furious stomping down the hall toward her.

"Maria, why do you always have to pawn your kid off on me?" Maria smirked in response; Sophia's lack of a little human attachment proved that she had already sent Fayt to change clothes for the trip.

She shrugged and looked back at her work, "Well, Auntie Sofa never seems busy; I thought you liked spending time with Fayt?"

Sophia huffed and glared at her sister, "You know I hate that name!" The brunette let out a calming breath and continued, "Of course I love Fayt; I just think you should take your own kid out once in a while."

"I do; but the thing is, Sophia, I'm the one with the job, you're the one with the time; someone has to care for little Fayt while someone else has to work. When you get a job like mine we can switch, but until then--"

"Auntie Sofa, I'm ready!" a childish voice sang from down the hall, and moments later Fayt bounced happily into the room.

Sophia turned and smiled at her nephew, "Okay, Fayt, to the car." Fayt nodded happily, sprinted to his mom for a quick hug, and raced to the front door to put his shoes on.

"No running in the house!" Maria called after him.

Sophia turned slightly to head after Fayt, but seemed to think better of it. She cast her gaze upon her sister and frowned at her, "Next time you want to send Fayt off somewhere find someone else to do it." Sophia spun on her heel and followed Fayt to the door.

---

"Chocolate! Hurry Auntie Sofa, the chocolate!" Fayt bounced happily in the parking lot on his way to the tall building that said, if Fayt could read, 'Lasbard Chocolate Factory'. The letters were just the right shade of brown that Fayt stopped in the middle of the road to call back once more to his aunt.

"Auntie Sofa, can you buy me a giant chocolate letter? I wanna eat it!"

Sophia blushed and didn't answer; maybe, this way, no one would know that she was the one affectionately named after furniture. However her silence only prompted an increase in volume, "Auntie Sofa, I want a chocolate letter!"

"Fayt, will you--" Sophia screeched in shock when, right before her eyes, little Fayt vanished and was replaced by a large vehicle that squealed to a stop right where the little boy once stood.

"Oh my God!" Sophia cried out and rushed forward she dropped to her knees to look frantically for the little boy she had failed to protect.

"Fayt? Fayt! Oh God, Fayt!" Sophia repeated as she searched wildly for the child.

"You do realize that you're under a vehicle that could move at any second, don't you?" Sophia ignored the calm voice and continued look for her nephew.

"Auntie Sofa, you got yourself all dirty!" Sophia paused at the childish giggle and shot up instantly.

"Fay--!" Sophia bit back a curse and covered her injured head; she should really watch what she was doing. Carefully, this time, she crawled out from under the van and looked up to where the giggling originated.

Her young nephew sat safely in the arms of a red-headed woman; while Fayt seemed oblivious to the danger he had been in, the other adult was livid. "You might want to actually watch your child, hmm? I won't be there next time to save him." Fayt was set on his feet and two sets of green eyes were focused on the brunette.

"Auntie Sofa, where's my chocolate?" Fayt whined and stomped his little foot. Sophia grabbed his hand quickly before he could run off.

"Uhm, thank you for--"

"Just don't let it happen again, that's thanks enough."

"Right..." Sophia would have said more, but she was distracted by both the tugging of her hand and the worried driver who had nearly killed little Fayt.

"Don't worry about it." She told him, "It was my fault too; let's both be more careful in the future." With that behind her, Sophia let Fayt drag her to the Chocolate Factory.

A/N: Eh, this first chapter wasn't very funny… and certainly not shounen-ai… I am shamed. It's also very short, but I think all chapters will be short. I'm sure the next chapter is better; I think, after more fun with Sophia, Fayt will get to meet Cliff. Wow! My story actually has a plan!

I'll tell you a little about what I've done to these poor characters… if you want to know.

Fayt: He's a cute little six-year old (I think, I keep changing it…); right now, in this chapter, Fayt's a little brat… but he's stuck with adults… XP

Maria: She gets to be a wealthy business woman, lucky her; but she got screwed over when she found out Fayt's father was only in it for the money. XD She dumped his ass.

Sophia: She lives with her older sister, Maria, because she got fired from (or quit) her last job; so she gets to spend everyday looking after cute little Fayt. Unfortunately for her, when she was trying to get Fayt to say her name right (when he was really little, of course), he started calling her 'Auntie Sofa'; it drives her nuts.

Nel: There's not much to say, I don't know if I'll have her in any future chapters, right now it's not looking good; but I like Nel so not even I know.

Also, the only children are Fayt, Cliff, and Albel… so far; we'll see what else happens…

Would you be so kind as to click and leave a review?


	2. Boxes and Cacao Beans

Chapter One: Boxes and Cacao Beans  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: I don't own SO3 or any of its characters, and I don't make money from this story.  
Pairings: AlbelxFayt and CliffxFayt (love triangle..? lol)  
Genre: Humor, Romance (sort of on both accounts).  
Warnings: OOC, character bashing (probably…), shounen-ai.  
A/N: My goodness, this took a while! I blame Sophia; it's annoying to write for a character that I'd love to simply push off a cliff and be done with. It was a little hard to write Cliff too, since I don't spend a whole lot of time fantasizing about him and what he would say, so he's likely OOC. I'd like to thank all my reviewers too, especially Zelavril because my writer's block wouldn't have died without her! XD Oh yes! By the way, my chocolate factory isn't going to be accurate (there's really only going to be a few things right with it), and most of that was intentional because of a certain character(s)… Well, it's all about the AlbelxFayt, anyway. XD

Fayt and the Chocolate Factory  
Chapter One: Boxes and Cacao Beans

To Sophia's relief, the wait for the next tour was short and Fayt found himself a few other children to play with in the lobby. Now that they were following after the guide he was walking happily down the hall and chattering away with a little girl he had met.

The little girl snatched up Fayt's hand, for whatever reason, and Sophia nearly squealed in delight, 'How cute!' she cooed, 'Maybe they'll be best friends as children and crushes as teens.' she giggled happily in her own little fantasy, but her attention was diverted as the guide began to speak.

"This is the room where we receive the deliveries of cacao beans from Central America." As he spoke the guide dipped his hand into an open box and it came back with the mentioned bean in it, "The beans, as they are now, aren't like the chocolate they will become later. They are bitter to taste and--"

Sophia felt a sharp tug on her skirt and she looked down at Fayt, "Auntie Sofa, when do we get to eat the chocolate?" her only response was an irritated sigh so Fayt added, "I want a giant letter!"

"I'll get you chocolate after the tour. Listen to the man, now." Sophia brushed Fayt away and her attention was paid again to the employee.

"...open the boxes, the workers then take the beans and they are left out to--"

"Auntie Sofa, I'm hungry!" Fayt persisted, his little hand tugged more ferociously at her skirt; Sophia brushed him off again.

Sophia really had no idea what was being said now, but she tried to pay attention. Still, Fayt's constant pestering prevented her from listening for more than a few seconds.

"Auntie Sofa!" after having heard that for what had to be the millionth time, or so she thought, Sophia's anger finally began to boil.

"Fayt..." she started speaking in a false kindness; a voice that was trying, and failing, to cover up her current hatred for an innocent six-year-old, "Why don't you go play over there."

Sophia pointed to a pile of boxes that were obviously heavy and poorly stacked; but Fayt saw it as a wonderful place to play. Finally Sophia's little headache scurried off to play, his hunger completely forgotten. Sophia once more tried to make sense of the tour guide's ramblings.

Over at the boxes Fayt was having a wonderful time; he was a mountain climbing prince trying to save the princess, who was turned into a frog, from being kissed by the evil dragon and made to be his wife. The dragon taunted him, the gift of flight allowed him to easily pass Fayt; but that dragon didn't realize that he was dealing with Fayt!

Before the dragon knew what was happening Fayt had made it to the top of the mountain; the toad princess was hopping frantically towards him, the dragon was roaring angrily while fire spewed from its mouth, and--

Fayt paused, his eyes widened and filled with renewed hunger; there was treasure on top of the mountain! Who cared about being a hero when they were faced with such delicious sweets? Fayt reached a hand in the box and pulled away with a reddish cacao bean.

The small part of Fayt that had actually been paying attention to the tour guide, as opposed to annoying Auntie Sofa, remembered that that little bean was used to make chocolate. It didn't look, or, feel, or smell much like chocolate; but maybe, Fayt decided, it tasted like chocolate.

With an excited, 'Aah!' Fayt opened his mouth wide and bit into the bean. After crunching the object for only a second Fayt spat the bean out, but a horribly bitter taste was left in his mouth. With a pitiful whimper, he began to rub the taste off on his hands.

"Fayt!" startled, Fayt shifted quickly away from his angry aunt; only to topple over several boxes, including the ones supporting him.

Sophia screamed as her dear nephew disappeared under boxes and cacao beans. The unfortunate Lasbard employee, who happened to be in charge of this group, rushed forward and began to toss boxes aside; one of the tourists soon joined and Fayt was pulled from the crumpled boxes. His shoulder was bruised, but he was fine.

Or so they said.

Fayt didn't feel fine; while sobbing, he ran over to his relative, "A-Auntie Sofa!" he whimpered and buried his face in her skirt, "I fell!" Sophia placed her hand on Fayt's head and gave the whining boy a small pat as he cried. If Fayt could see her face though, he wouldn't be so close to her.

Sophia was getting angrier and angrier. Perhaps it was anger at herself for allowing Fayt to get hurt, or maybe she blamed him entirely; but Sophia was very near to screaming her head off at her nephew. She had to use a large amount of her remaining restraint to keep from exploding at him.

"Fayt…" Her voice still held that false kindness; it wavered with her attempts to keep control, "Are you ok?"

Fayt looked up at his aunt uncertainly, but he decided it was ok to talk with her. Slowly he began, "No, Auntie Sofa, I wanna go home! The chocolate I had tastes yucky."

The tour guide opened his mouth to explain, once more, about the cacao bean's transformation from bitter to sweet; but Sophia cut him off. "So, you want chocolate, do you, Fayt?" Fayt backed away cautiously and looked up pleadingly at his aunt.

"Y-Yeah, just so long as it's not icky!" Sophia snatched up a handful of cacao beans and had Fayt hold them.

"The secret to chocolate is magic!" Fayt, along with the other children, gasped in delight; their mouths hung open when a blue light began to form in the brunette's palm.

"Auntie Sofa, I didn't know you were a witch!" Sophia's mouth twitched with the urge to scream, but she once more held back; her only release was a cry of, 'Faerie Light!' when the spell was at an end.

A golden light appeared before Fayt and swirled around him and the mess of red and orange beans in his hands. He could hardly see through the glow, but soft giggling reached his ears, "Wow." Slowly the light vanished and Fayt was left to stare at the unchanged objects in his hands.

Sophia reached out and plucked one of her enchantments from Fayt's still outstretched hands, "Now, let's see how wonderful it tastes!" Sophia dangled the food over her mouth, but a hand was placed on her shoulder.

The tour guide looked at her worriedly, "Miss, you aren't really going to eat that... are you?"

"Of course I am! It's been enchanted by pixies!" Sophia plopped the chocolate in her mouth and chewed before the guide could further protest; seconds later Fayt found a disgusting mass by his foot.

"Blech!" revolted and angered by her failure, Sophia spun and smacked the remaining beans out of Fayt's hand, "Useless!" She cried before she turned to verbally attack the poor tour guide.

Fayt whimpered and clutched his hand close to his chest and tiny tears began to form at the corners of his eyes; the hurt he felt, however was more emotional than physical. Auntie Sofa was too busy tarring down the poor worker to even notice that she had hurt her young nephew; she was awfully angry.

Fayt whimpered, "I made her really angry and now she hates me." Fayt covered his teary green eyes with his hands, "Auntie Sofa doesn't love me!" Fayt wailed and stumbled blindly out of the room.

Meanwhile, the tour guide tried to remain calm while Sophia screeched something at him; as far as he could tell, she thought that her magic had failed because of the tour guide's 'demonic powers'. Desperately, the worker tried to reason with her, "Please, Miss, if you want I can get your child some chocolate; just please calm down."

Sophia paused a moment and looked back at the pile of cacao beans Fayt had left on the floor, "I forgot the rest of the spell!" She exclaimed. The seemingly mad woman walked over and scooped up the mess; the frightened employee took this as his chance to escape, and he quickly ushered out the rest of the confused guests while Sophia remained looking at the colorful objects in her grasp.

"Of course!" She began, clutching the chocolate to her chest, "I forgot to add the extra burst of flavor!" With the chocolate in one hand, Sophia again began to glow with blue light around the other; and a good few seconds later she extended her hand before her, "Explosion!"

---

Fayt was sniffling in the corner of a room with different machines making odd noises, the smell of chocolate wafted through the air, and workers were bustling about attending to many different things; they didn't seem to notice him, or anything else happening around them. They didn't even take notice of the loud 'Bang' from the other room.

Feeling lonely, in need of attention, and without it coming his way; Fayt got up to look around for someone to notice him. If Auntie Sofa thought that he was useless, he would find someone who wanted him. All the adults in this room looked too busy for him, so Fayt headed to a door across the room.

Once the door was opened Fayt cautiously poked his head into the dark room. He was about to turn around and try elsewhere, when he heard hushed murmurs coming from the other end of the room. He hesitantly stepped in and closed the door behind him.

"Hee, hee!" Fayt heard the giggling and tilted his head to the side, "Oh, Tiko, you are just too sexy." The voice was definitely female, and in the direction Fayt first thought the whispering was coming from, "Kiss me again."

"With pleasure, my dear Nami." Fayt tip-toed towards the voices that were soon jumbled together; it sounded much like awful singing, to Fayt, or the awful wailing of a ghost.

Behind the boxes that were stacked towards the end of the room came the muffled voices; Fayt began to make his way over there, curious as to what would be the cause of those strange noises. He stopped at the edge of the wall of boxes, but the noises changed into heavy breathing; Fayt was disappointed, so he waited with his back pressed against the boxes so he could listen for the noise to come back again.

"Damn, you kiss so good." The female cooed and their voices mingled together once more. Fayt bit his lip and cautiously peered around the boxes, but before he could see much of anything he felt something land on his shoulder.

The child whirled around with a small gasp and his eyes rested themselves on the figure of another boy. The large hand was quickly removed from Fayt's shoulder and a grin was flashed at him, "Hey, kid, what're you doing here? You really don't want to look behind there." Fayt bit back a whimper of fright, but he forced a word out anyhow.

"N-Nothing..." Even in the darkness it wasn't hard to make out the messy blond hair of the other kid before him, or the more muscular frame he sported; he didn't look threatening. In fact, he looked rather friendly, but Fayt had had a bad experience with a similarly built kid and it made an uncomfortable shiver crawl up his back.

"What do you want?" Fayt asked bravely, if not a little threatening, to hide the slight waver in his voice, "I'm not doing anything to you, so leave me alone."

"Woah, easy there; I'm not gonna hurt you." The blond held up his hands with a reassuring grin on his face, "It's not like other kids just wander in here all the time, so I was just wondering what you were doing; and, well, I just thought you wouldn't want to see what's behind there."

"I—" Fayt paused and glanced in the direction the noises came from, though the box still blocked his view, "What's behind there?"

"Eh…" the kid shrugged his shoulders, "Just my mom and her friend, it's no big deal…"

"Then why can't I see?" Fayt persisted, he stomped his foot and placed his hands on his hips like he'd seen his aunt do, "You'd better tell me, or I'll look for myself."

"Well, if my mom catches you looking she'll get angry." Before Fayt could say anything else the subject was changed, "So, kid, why are you here?"

"I'm not a kid! I'm six," Fayt said proudly while pointing his thumb at his chest, "and my name's Fayt; I'm here to find out how chocolate is made. My auntie was going to show me, but she's a big meanie; I came in here, but I guess there's no chocolate here…"

"There's no chocolate." The kid agreed, "But you did come to the right place, kid; I'm--"

"Cliff!" Startled Fayt poked his head around the boxes before he could be stopped. The woman who yelled was scowling past Fayt and at the blond boy; there was a man who lay on top of her, licking at her lips even as she scolded her child, "I told you not to talk when mommy's playing with her friend!"

With her words ended Fayt watched in a mixture of shock, disgust, and curiosity as their mouths opened and engaged in the strangest kiss Fayt have ever seen. Their mouths crushed together and their tongues pushed, wiggled, and wrapped around each other; Fayt had also found that it was the reason they made such strange sounds.

"Ah, sorry about that," Cliff said, sounding only half serious, "I'll go play outside." Fayt's hand was snatched up in the other kid's and he was dragged towards the door; but the woman's voice called back to them once more.

"Don't get in the way of the workers!" She commanded, before more giggling, whispering, and moaning occurred.

"Yeah, I got it." The blond kid said with impatience before tugging Fayt out the rest of the way and closing the door, "My mom's very nasty to me when she's around her friend." He complained, "She acts like she doesn't love me."

"Like my Auntie!" Fayt said with equal anger, "She's mean to me too!" Fayt pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, "I don't think she loves me."

"So," the older kid paused a second and then asked slowly, "what's your name?"

"I'm Fayt."

"So, Fayt," he continued, "looks like we have something in common then; I'm Cliff." he extended his hand, "We should be friends."

Fayt paused a second and then nodded slowly and shook Cliff's hand, "Ok... your mom and that guy are friends too, right? Does that mean we have to kiss like that?"

A laugh erupted from Cliff and he patted Fayt on the back, "Nope. Mom and Tiko are best friends, so you and I would have to be best friends before we could do that..." he trailed off and a thoughtful look appeared on his face, "...haven't you had a friend before?"

Fayt shook his head sadly and a small blush of embarrassment crept onto his face. "No... not really." Fayt was sure he sounded so stupid; he must be, to not have friends.

Hurriedly he added, so he wouldn't scare off the other kid into thinking he was a complete loser, "I used to talk to this one kid at school, but this mean bully started to pick on me and he got too scared to hang out with me." Fayt inwardly cringed after he finished, realizing that he must have made himself sound even worse.

Cliff grinned and tugged on Fayt's hand, which he was still holding, to bring him closer. He reached out with his other hand to mush the depressed look on Fayt's face into something that might resemble a deformed smile, "I don't have any friends either." Cliff said, which shocked, and then brought a true smile to Fayt, "We have to be friends, don't you think?"

"Yeah!" With his excited cheer Fayt threw his arms around the other boy's waist, "Maybe we can even be best friends soon, too!"

"Yeah." Cliff agreed, returning the embrace with one of his arms slung around Fayt while the other hand rested at his own side.

The blue haired boy was grinning when he pulled away and he bounced happily into the middle of the room of bustling workers and machinery, "You'll come with me, then, won't you Cliff? I wanna learn about chocolate!"

"Ha ha, of course, I can even tell you stuff about the machines; I come here lots when mom visits her friend." Fayt smiled at Cliff and bounced around the room more, and somehow he still failed to turn the heads of any workers.

"That's awesome! I'll know how I can make chocolate in no time!" Fayt bounced closer to another machine giggling all the while and finally catching the attention of a worker. She paused a moment and then scurried out of the room.

"Hey, slow down there, kid or you'll--" Cliff was cut off by Fayt's squeal; he watched as Fayt tripped and bumped his earlier injured shoulder into a large plastic cylinder. The child slid down the cylinder clutching his left arm only to be quickly assaulted with a few droplets of hot liquid chocolate the container held. Fayt yelped and scooted away towards Cliff, where he deemed it safest.

Cliff laughed as he looked down at his pouting friend, "Something like that will happen if you're not careful." Cliff laughed harder after seeing Fayt's face fall into an even bigger pout. He raised his hand and ruffled the blue locks, "Hey, don't make that face; I did the same thing. Only, I got covered in the stuff." he said it as if he were proud, so he added, "Like what my mom always says: 'Cliff, you're so clumsy!'" He imitated with a higher pitched voice, a hand on his hip, and a wagging finger; Fayt giggled and rose to his feet again.

"My Auntie does the same things!" Fayt took up the same stance Cliff had and began to imitate his Aunt, "'Fayt, stop running!', 'Fayt, stop calling me that!', 'Fayt, you're so annoying.'" Fayt burst into another fit of giggles which Cliff joined him in.

They lapsed into a short silence to recover their breath, and then Cliff spoke again, "You know what, Fayt? I think we'll be best friends in no time."

Fayt beamed at him and reached out to grab his blonde friend's hand, "Let's go!" Fayt cheered excitedly, "The chocolate, Cliff, the chocolate!"

Cliff grinned and let the younger boy drag him off towards one of the machines.

A/N: Next chapter features Fayt and Cliff getting in trouble with Mirage, and a 'monster' that likes to eat little kids. Fayt should get to meet Albel next chapter, too.

Here's a little about the characters in this chapter:

Tiko and Nami: My characters! MINE! They're actually from another story idea of mine, I just couldn't really think of a name for Cliff's mom. (I'd make her Mirage, but I have plans for her.) In this story Tiko is an important (-ish: so he may be seen again…) employee of the Lasbard Company, and Nami is Cliff's cheating mother. Shame.

Cliff: Cliff gets to be seven-years-old, and he's unfortunate enough to have to watch his mom cheating on his dad; (Shame!) so, of course, his mother's lies have slightly sexualized his view on friendships... among other things...

Sophia: I'm not sure if she's actually dead or just incapacitated... either way, she's not going to be in the story for several, if not the rest, of the chapters.

Would you be so kind as to click and leave a review, please? Thank you.


	3. Thirty Four

Chapter Two: Thirty-Four

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own SO3 or any of its characters, and I don't make money from this story.

Pairings: AlbelxFayt and CliffxFayt (love triangle..? lol)

Genre: Humour, Romance (sort of on both accounts).

Warnings: OOC, character bashing (probably…), shounen-ai, the Authoress using bad language in her author's note... for shame...

A/N: I'm sorry... I got pissed at myself for taking so damn long updating... I figured I should just update with what I have... no Albel yet... -sigh- Well, enjoy this short, short chapter... I'll get working my ass off on the next one...

Fayt and the Chocolate Factory

Chapter Two: Thirty-Four

Fayt tugged Cliff up to one of the machines excitedly; once there, he detached himself from his friend and began inspecting the machine from a distance he thought was safe. It was really huge, at least from Fayt's point of view, and it was built into the wall with a thick metal tube sprouting up towards the ceiling and there were some cords coming out the back. The machine itself was a rectangular shape and a dark brown color, with lots of buttons and levers on the front.

It was quickly decided that the machine was safe enough to get even closer to, so Fayt ran up and began looking over the buttons for the one that looked most like it wanted to be pushed. Cliff followed close behind him and looked over the buttons as well. This was the first time he'd gotten close enough to actually be able to press a button…

"What's this thing for, Cliff..?" Fayt asked while standing on his tip toes to see through the little window in the center of the machine; he was too short, though, so he turned and pouted at Cliff.

"Uh… this… is the…" Cliff paused and looked the machine over again; he couldn't quite remember what it was called, but at least he knew what it did, "…the …oven-thingy… those icky beans go in here and get cooked; they smell yummy when they come out again."

"Is that all?" Fayt said excitedly, "Then I can eat them when it's done!" Fayt jumped up and down in place, "Oh! How do I make it go faster?" he started looking over the buttons again and quickly smacked his hand down on a big green one. "GO! GO! GO!"

He smacked the button a few more times, but nothing different seemed to happen and Fayt let out a loud whining noise, "Cliff!" He cried, "Do something!"

The blond looked over the machine and slowly tried to register the letters naming each button's function, "Lll… Llliii…lig—Err… I can't read this, sorry."

The pout on the younger boy's face grew and he folded his arms across his chest, "Meanie." He spat, and his emerald gaze turned to glower at the floor.

"Hey!" Cliff protested, "It's not my fault I can't read!" Fayt continued to glare away from the other boy and it didn't take long for Cliff to get angry too, "I bet you can't even spell your own name!"

"I-I can so!" Fayt sputtered indignantly, though he knew very well that he couldn't, "It's umm…" The anger Fayt felt quickly diminished into embarrassment as he ran over the alphabet in his mind, "'F'..! uh… 'A'! Then it goes…" Fayt bit his lip really having no clue what came next; but he remembered that Cliff couldn't really read either, "'N'!" Fayt proclaimed proudly, "F-A-N, Fayt!"

Cliff looked at him doubtfully, "'N'?" He paused for a second, and focused his blue-eyed gaze at the ceiling, "Wouldn't that spell 'fan'?" Cliff shrugged, the issue being dismissed before Fayt could object, "I can spell my name faster..! C-L-I-F-F!" Cliff thumped his chest proudly, "I learned that in school! I can even write it with a pencil!"

Fayt's pout only grew and he folded his arms across his chest, "Yeah, well… pencils are dumb." Cliff broke into hearty laughter causing Fayt's face to flame red; but before he could shoot back an insult in defense a voice cut straight through the many noises in the room.

"Cliff, what are you doing over there..?" Cliff froze mid-laugh and stood up straight.

"Uh-oh… it's Mirage…" Fayt stood up on his tip-toes to see over Cliff's shoulder; a blond, grown-up woman was walking quickly towards them with a scowl on her pretty face. Cliff turned to look up at her, and that was his mistake; he didn't have time to run once he caught sight of her.

Mirage's gloved fingers closed around the wrists of the two children and she began to pull them across the room to a door Fayt had earlier overlooked in favor of the one that held Cliff. Fayt struggled against the grip on his wrist and yelled childish insults as he was dragged across the floor; Cliff, however, seemed to have given up and was walking sluggishly behind her.

The adult shouldered open the door and pulled the two of them inside; Cliff immediately sat down on the floor before her and Mirage released his arm, but she kept her fingers tightly trapping Fayt, "Cliff…" she began sternly, "You know you're not supposed to be wandering around like this."

"I just wanted to show Fayt around…" Cliff fidgeted nervously under her gaze, his hands simply playing with the edge of his t-shirt while he avoided looking at her, "He got lost, so I was going to show him around and then take him to the desk at the front for his mommy to find him."

"Hmph." Mirage kept her disapproving gaze focused on Cliff a second longer before turning to the boy who was struggling in her grasp, "Don't you know that you're not supposed to wander away from your parents?" she lectured. The tone she took was different from the one given to Cliff; Cliff's was a very aggravated snap, as if she'd dealt with him too many times, for Fayt she used a stern 'you should know better' tone.

"My auntie was a big meanie!" Fayt answered her with a stomp of his foot, "She made me fall down, and then she called me useless! I don't like her so I ran away!"

"She made you fall down..?" Mirage paused for a moment in quiet contemplation before she dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Fayt's tiny body, "Oh you poor dear." She cooed while running her fingers through his hair.

Fayt squirmed in the embrace; his green eyes darted everywhere for some kind of escape, but all he could end up focusing on was Cliff now standing silently with a look of shock on his face, "Poor child, she must be truly wicked to abuse such a cute little kid." Fayt's squirming increased as he reached to grab a hold of his friend, "You don't have to be afraid anymore, no one's going to hurt you." She assured.

Finally her smothering grip released and Fayt stumbled back away from her. Mirage turned her attentions back to Cliff and she reached out to ruffle his blonde locks; further confusion was brought to the seven-year-old boy who was so used to seeing his elder with an angry look about her, "You did a good thing keeping this boy safe from harm, Cliff." She stood and made her way to the door, "Stay here and keep him safe while I go and have a talk with your mommy, ok Cliff?"

"Ok…" With that Mirage disappeared behind the door and Cliff heaved a sigh, "I don't get what that was about… but I'm glad she's gone…"

Fayt seemed to recover quickly enough and he looked about the room quickly, "Oh look Cliff!" Fayt cried happily and bounced over to a large machine against the wall, "Chocolate! It's one of those candy machines!" Cliff looked up at the machine and sighed sadly.

"We don't have any money…" Cliff pointed out, "We're in the place where chocolate is made, Fayt! Why would you want to buy it for?

Fayt whined and kicked the machine, "It's taking too long! I want chocolate now!" Fayt stomped his foot and headed over to the door, "Let's go then..!" Fayt began tugging on the handle, but to his displeasure one of those stupid child locks was around it, "Not fair! That adult is a big, weird, meanie!"

Cliff moved closer and tugged on Fayt's hand, "Come on, if she thinks you're trying to escape she'll get mad at you…" The younger quickly shoved his friend away and tugged again on the handle.

"No, I want out!" Cliff sighed as Fayt returned to attacking the poor defenseless door.

"Look, Fayt, I've got a dollar… I didn't want to use it… but we can buy some chocolate if you want…" Instantly Fayt spun around with a large smile on his face, and his green eyes seemed to sparkle at the promise of sweets.

"Really?" Cliff finally tugged Fayt over to the machine; he pulled up a chair and rummaged in his pockets for the single dollar he managed to earlier swipe from his mom. Fayt hopped up and down excitedly as Cliff fed the machine his money, "That one, Cliff! That one!" Fayt pointed wildly at a bar neatly wrapped in blue paper with a big, yellow, 'LC' written on it.

"Three, four…" Cliff read the combined numbers beneath the bar and quickly pressed the corresponding numbers; instead of candy the little screen that normally displayed they amount of money quickly scrolled a message, "Please inp-pu—" before Cliff could finish reading the money was displayed again.

"Did you press the right buttons?" Fayt squatted down and peered beyond the plastic flap in hopes of finding his candy.

"Of course I did..!" Cliff looked back at the candy again and read the numbers as he pressed them, "Three… Four..!" Again the machine did nothing but scroll a message far too quickly for Cliff to read. Fayt glared at the candy machine and stomped back over to the door. (1)

"I want out!" Fayt's tiny foot connected with the wood and the door swung open, nearly hitting Fayt in the face; unfortunately, the door's reaction was not in a cowardly response to Fayt's anger, but rather it opened to readmit Mirage. She was angry at first, but it quickly vanished when she heard a short cry; Fayt stumbled and fell to the floor with a loud wail.

"Oh, my dear! I'm so sorry!" Mirage scooped up the small boy and cuddled him to her chest, "You can't try and escape like that, dear." Mirage gently pushed Fayt next to Cliff and her voice took on its stern 'Cliff' tone, "Now, what are _you_ up to?"

"Fayt wanted candy… I was trying to buy him some." Cliff shifted nervously, but again Mirage surprised him; she moved over the machine to check for the problem.

"What candy did you want, Fayt?" Fayt quickly pointed out the bar and Mirage pressed the buttons for the candy; but by the time she turned to give Fayt the bar the two youngsters had vanished out the door she'd forgotten to close.

---

Fayt giggled as he ran hand-in-hand with Cliff across the room with big machines and busy workers to a door that led deeper into the factory. However, as Fayt reached to open the door Cliff jerked him back.

"You can't go in that door, Fayt." Cliff protested, "My mom says there's a scary monster in there… and he's got big sharp claws and snakes for hair!" Fayt gasped and instantly stepped away from the door, "He's got a floppy body and a really mean growl."

"Wh-Why is there a monster here!?" Fayt cried, horrified.

"Mom says he won't leave no matter who talks to him. I even tried talking to him… but all he did was growl and knock over a bunch of stuff! I would've fought him, but mom said that she didn't want me to get eaten."

"Eaten!?" Fayt clung tightly to Cliff's arm and eyed the door, "Where do we go then..?"

In answer to Fayt's question Mirage's voice cried from across the room, "Cliff!?" It was lucky for them that they were too short to be seen over the workers and machines, but it wouldn't be long before a worker pointed her in the right direction…

Fayt's hand trembled, but he swallowed his fear and threw open the door to the monster's lair and charged in; Cliff took one look at Mirage's blonde hair getting closer and dashed inside as well (no monster could compare to Mirage when she was angry.)

Lucky for them Cliff knew how the door worked and he pulled the clunky metal lock into place just as Mirage jiggled the door knob; the boys gave a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived as the danger they were in became quickly apparent.

Fayt whispered to break the fearful silence, "So, where are we, Cliff..?"

"Hmm… I can't remember what they actually call this room… I just call it the monster's room…"

Fayt trembled a little, but began to step forward anyhow, "Are you sure there's a monster here Cliff..? It seems safe—"

A sudden 'BOOM' filled the room, and Fayt screamed; his small body managed to jump three feet into the air. He scrambled over and clutched onto Cliff, "Wh-What was--?"

'THUD!'

Fayt screamed again and dug his nails into Cliff's wrist, "Ow..! Fayt! Let go!" Cliff stumbled away from Fayt and into the door which gave a sudden lurch against his back.

"Gah! It's the monster!"

An angry scream erupted from the door while the room filled with a low chuckling.

Cliff edged them away from the door, "It's only Mirage." He insisted while running his fingers through the younger boy's blue hair, "She's just mad cuz I locked her out."

"Yeah…" Fayt admitted, still feeling rather nervous, "There's not really a monster…"

"There is too!" Cliff protested. "We've just got to avoid the right side of the room." Cliff gestured with one hand, "Those huge metal things are his lair."

Fayt shuddered a little and moved further away, "So… what does this room do..?"

Cliff grinned, "Don't know. Looks like they just keep a bunch of stuff here; people don't go through here too often. Mom used to bring me here lots with Tiko, but since the monster came she's been using other places."

"Oh." Fayt pouted, "That's boring… let's go on, then!" Fayt grabbed Cliff's hand and began to drag him across the room to the door to the next room. They eyed the monster's lair carefully as they passed it; but everything went smoothly… or so they thought.

"The door's locked!" Fayt pouted while he kicked the door angrily, "Now what?"

"Well…" Cliff smiled nervously and glanced over his shoulder, "The only other way out is through the door by the monster's lair…"

Fayt felt a cold chill travel up his spine and he bit his lip, "So… we're stuck..?"

Cliff nodded sadly, "Unless you want to try and make the monster your friend—"

"Friend? Yeah!" Fayt hopped up and down excitedly, "Like the story my mommy reads to me! The monster can't be so bad! He must want a friend!" Fayt headed bravely over to the lair and Cliff cried out and followed him.

"You'll be eaten!"

"Nuh-uh!" Fayt retorted slapping off Cliff's hands as he tried to pull him back; eventually, after some struggling, Fayt came to the small stretch of carpet that led to the door. The monster's lair was just to the left, and it seemed relatively safe to just walk the ten feet to the door and slip through without being noticed; but Fayt, instead, walked bravely up to the huge metal cylinders.

There seemed to be a small entrance between them; it was dark, and impossible to see into but Fayt bit his lip and straightened up, "Monster, I'm Fayt L-L—um… Fayt! Come out!"

There was no response and Fayt huffed angrily, "Don't not talk to me!"

Cliff sighed and walked closer to him, "Come on, Fayt; forget it. We can get to the door, you know…"

"No!" Fayt stomped his foot and pushed Cliff away, "I'm going to make him talk to me!" Fayt stomped closer and yelled into the darkness of the monster's lair, "You hear that, monster? I'm not leaving here until you talk!"

This time a loud rapping began, almost like the sound of someone playing a washboard; yet it was harder… with a 'ping' from metal striking metal. Fayt whined a little and inched back a little. A short laugh echoed from the darkness followed by the end of the noise and the beginning of a voice.

Low, and dangerous it began, "Heh, pathetic." Fayt bristled at the insult and glared as much as he could into the darkness, but the monster continued, "You really think I'd be friends with you maggots?"

Fayt huffed, "I am not pathetic!"

"You probably don't even know what pathetic means." The monster laughed louder and Fayt screamed a wordless cry at him, "If you're so angry come and get me; prove to me that you aren't a worthless little fool."

"Why don't you come out here!?" Fayt challenged, "You're just scared so you'll stay in your creepy home!" Fayt stuck his tongue out and began stumbling around in front of the monster's lair, "I'm the monster!" Fayt cried, "I'm a big stupid meanie who hides all day, and looks funny! I smell bad and I'm scared to come out of my house!"

Cliff was laughing hysterically, "It's so true!" He cried over the monster's growling.

Fayt suddenly stopped his antics and faced the dark entrance and he folded his hands over his chest, "Pathetic monster!" He yelled mockingly.

Fayt had been too busy yelling dramatically that he hadn't heard the monster's noisy approach, and in seconds he was on the floor with the monster's much larger frame pinning him down. It was growling; it's snake hair was tickling Fayt's neck, it's clawed fingers were scratching at his neck, and it's heavy body was pinning his hips to the floor.

Fayt kicked his feet around wildly, for all the good it did…

"Hey..!" Cliff cried, "You aren't a monster! You're just a kid!"

The kid laughed, his cold scarlet eyes fixed on Cliff who seemed to be keeping his distance, "How observant you are, did you figure that out all on your own? I'm surprised." He laughed again and turned back to Fayt, "There's no such thing as monsters, fool… only people; some of us just refuse to become weak and useless…"

Fayt whimpered a little, as a long, sharp claw ran along his neck just short of piercing the skin. "Now… are you going to beg me for forgiveness..? Or should I just take it myself..?"

"U-Useless..?" Fayt bit his lip; he hadn't wanted to admit it, but his Auntie Sofa had hurt him when she called him that. And hearing himself called that a second time… he had to believe it was true, "I don't want to be useless…"

The kid tilted his head to the side, his long hair finally pulling away from tickling Fayt's neck, "Really..? Maybe I'll be willing to—"

Cliff hollered seconds before impacting with his enemy, and the two of them tumbled off of Fayt and began struggling around on the ground.

Somehow Cliff managed to keep the metal claw on the kid's left arm from cutting into him; but while Cliff struggled to keep one arm pinned he was being wailed on by the other arm. Finally, and in an act of desperation, Cliff drove his knee forward and brought the fight to a dirty end.

The kid curled up on the floor protectively while Cliff stood up beaming proudly, "That'll teach you to try and hurt my friend!"

"Cliff!" Fayt pouted, "I was making him my friend!"

"Huh..? Looked to me like he was trying to kill you, and I couldn't let him hurt you!" Fayt continued to pout, "Aww… Fayt I thought you wanted to be my best friend!"

Fayt's attention snapped towards Cliff, "I do! I do!" He hoped up and grabbed onto Cliff's arm, "I can still be friends with him, though, can't I..?"

Cliff shrugged a bit, "Well… as long as I'm your best friend." Fayt giggled and leaned forward; he pressed his lips quickly over Cliff's, before drawing back and heading over to the kid.

Fayt called over his shoulder, "You'll always be my one and only best friend, Cliff!" Fayt dropped down onto his knees to help the kid up, though he refused to allow it.

Cliff grinned, and moved so he caught eyes with the former monster; his expression turned to one of pride, like he was saying, 'ha ha, Fayt's mine; loser' and the scowl written across a pale face only grew deeper.

Fayt, meanwhile, was simply trying to pick up the conversation that Cliff had interrupted; he was completely oblivious to the silent conflict between the two, "So, you'll help me so I won't be useless, right..?" Fayt prodded with both words and his finger. At once the conflict was broken as a dark haired head turned Fayt's way.

"That's what I said, didn't I, maggot?"

Fayt squealed happily and wrapped his arms around the other kid's neck, "Thank you!"

The kid scowled and shoved him away, "You can start by getting off of me."

(1) Heh, Cliff's just reading wrong, if you didn't guess… he's pressing '3' instead of 'E'.

Next Chapter: Fayt finds out that he's gay and the return of Mirage! Ahh!


	4. Your Shirt is so Gay!

Chapter Three: Your Shirt is so Gay!  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: I don't own SO3 or any of its characters, and I don't make money from this story.  
Pairings: AlbelxFayt and CliffxFayt (love triangle..? lol)  
Genre: Humour, Romance (sort of on both accounts).  
Warnings: OOC, character bashing (probably…), shounen-ai.  
A/N: **ATTENTION!** I added on to the last chapter, so go back and read from the '---' or you won't know what's going on...

Fayt and the Chocolate Factory

Chapter Three: Your Shirt is so Gay!

He was called Albel: a self-proclaimed warrior whose immediate appearance was somewhat frightening. He had dark, messy hair that hung around his face and red eyes that Fayt had never seen on another person before. He had a strange metal claw on his left arm that he wouldn't talk about no matter how much prodding Fayt's little finger did and his hair was tied back into two long pigtails (or that's what Fayt kept insisting they were, much to Albel's annoyance.)

Cliff immediately joined in poking fun at his hair, as well as his choice of clothes. He wore a t-shirt and pants, both of them were a dark purple color, and form fitting, "Ha ha, look at him, Fayt!" Cliff jabbed Albel's right shoulder with his finger while Fayt was busying playing with the ends of Albel's long hair, "His clothes are so gay!"

Fayt wrinkled his nose in confusion, but Albel spoke up first, "Silence fool!" Albel hissed, and Cliff only laughed harder at him; Albel spun towards him, ignoring the pain of his hair being tugged out of Fayt's fingers, and grabbed Cliff by the collar of his shirt, "I said silence, maggot; I'm not opposed to making you silent myself."

Cliff growled and pulled at Albel's fingers, "I don't have to listen to a stupid gay person!" Cliff cried, as he pulled away and stumbled back.

Albel snorted, but a broad smirk soon crossed his face, "You don't even know what 'gay' means, do you?" Cliff paused a second, shocked that he had been found out; but he glared back.

"I do too!" Cliff clenched his fists and growled at the older boy.

Albel placed his human hand on his waist confidently; his smirk only seemed to grow wider, "If you really knew then you'd realize that I can't be any gayer than you are."

Cliff's eyes widened and then he scowled, "I'm not gay, you're gay!" his retort was childish and it only brought another laugh from Albel.

Fayt whined suddenly, a large pout was on his face and he looked very frustrated, "You aren't making any sense!" He stomped his foot and folded his arms, "I'm not going to play with you if you're just going to talk about things just to confuse me!" Fayt turned his head away, with his chin turned up to the ceiling; "Meanies!"

Albel only laughed at him; Cliff ignored it and approached Fayt, "Fayt," He pleaded while trying to get Fayt to turn back his way, "I'm sorry; I'll tell you want it means!"

Fayt cast his gaze over his shoulder at Cliff and made a little noise in his throat to show that he was listening, "Gay's a bad thing; if you wear purple clothes or have long girly hair then you're gay!" (1)

Fayt's eyes widened as he took in the information. Albel, meanwhile, laughed even louder than before, "I-I'm gay!" Fayt cried and stepped back from Cliff, as his head filled with memories of a purple dress that Auntie Sophia got him to wear one day. "H-How do I stop being gay!?"

Cliff stepped away from him as well, horror was written on his face; and he didn't really know what to do with himself, now that he'd found out that Fayt was gay, "I-I don't know! I never asked!"

Albel approached Fayt, a smirk was on his face as he laid a hand on Fayt's shoulder; he had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing, as he tried to comfort the other boy, "Don't worry Fayt, I know what the cure is…"

Fayt looked up at him happily, "R-Really..?" But Fayt's hopeful gaze quickly turned into a frown, "Then… why are you still gay..?"

Albel placed his arm over Fayt's shoulder and pulled him in close, "Well, in order to be cured of gayness you have to have another gay person."

Fayt paused for a moment to take in the information, but it didn't take him long, "Albel! We're both gay!" Albel nodded at Fayt's excited discovery and continued.

"So, in order to be cured you have to kiss me."

Cliff growled loudly and pulled Fayt out from Albel's grasp, "You liar! You just want to make Fayt your best friend! Well he's mine!" Cliff pulled Fayt into a kiss and held him closely.

For a second Fayt struggled to get away from the rough action, having been startled by Cliff's irrational anger, but he soon succumbed and kissed back. Cliff growled again when they broke apart and glared at his still smiling enemy.

"So, you admit it: you like to kiss other boys, don't you, fool?" Albel teased.

Cliff frowned and hugged Fayt close, "Nuh-uh! Only Fayt!" Fayt smiled a little; he felt rather special being so close to Cliff and he cuddled into his arms.

Albel frowned as he watched the other boys cuddle together, but he managed to ignore it and continue talking in his teasing voice, "But Fayt is a boy, aren't you, Fayt..?"

Fayt glanced over his shoulder at Albel, who was smirking, and he smiled a little warily; he didn't really like the tone of voice the older boy was using, but he just couldn't piece together why he felt that way, "Yeah… of course I'm a boy…"

"Well," Albel began with a tone of voice that made Fayt feel smaller than he was; like Albel was some really important person even though he was just a kid like him and Cliff, "prepare to be educated, maggots! Maybe then you'll be able to call yourselves human instead of the lowly scum that you are." Cliff twitched and raised a shaking fist threateningly; not that Albel was really frightened, he just continued on speaking,

"You're both gay." Fayt whimpered, but Albel continued to talk over him, "Gay has nothing to do with color or looks. Gay is when two guys like to kiss each other and they don't like to kiss girls."

Cliff frowned in confusion, "You're lying! Why would everyone say that kissing is bad? Liar!"

"They're maggots, that's why." Albel drawled. Cliff's frown only deepened; the answer was anything but informative. It confused and angered him even more than he already was; he shoved Albel out of the way and grabbed onto Fayt's hand.

"You're dumb." He shot to the older boy as he pulled Fayt towards the door; the blue haired boy glanced back at Albel. He wanted to know more about being gay, but he decided he trusted Cliff more; Albel _must_ be lying if Cliff said so. So he continued following Cliff to the door.

Albel only smirked, turned, and headed back into the darkness of his lair, "Heh, what idiots; a complete waste of my time."

---

Fayt skipped happily down the hall, hand-in-hand with Cliff; the situation with Albel was already put out of his mind. He'd been there for, what..? An _entire hour_ and he _still_ didn't know how to make chocolate! "C'mon, Cliff; I want to see more!"

They came to a door at the end of the hall and Cliff reached out for it, "This is the best room." he said excitedly as he pushed open the door; Fayt burst inside, just as eager as Cliff sounded. He looked around with wide, green eyes filled with wonder; but it was premature…

Mirage grabbed onto both boys' arms and started to drag them back down the hall the way they came; Fayt whined loudly but she simply talked over him, "I knew I'd find you boys if I just waited for you."

Fayt tried to drag his feet along the floor in hopes of using his weight to stop Mirage, but she was stronger than he thought. Cliff seemed to know this without even trying and he followed Mirage with a resigned look on his face.

Fayt whined again and tried to yank his hand out of her grip, "I'm sorry, dear." Mirage said, though she didn't sound too apologetic, "You shouldn't have run away."

Cliff sighed and reached out to Fayt with his free hand, "You'd better stop, Fayt; she'll just get more angry if you keep pulling like that."

"Meanie woman!" Fayt cried angrily, "Let me go!" But no matter how much whining Fayt did, Mirage's hold remained strong; he even doubled his efforts when he passed the door from the storage room where they'd met Albel… because some small part of him hoped Albel's status as 'monster' might scare Mirage off.

They continued down the hall and back into the room with the machines. Fayt was _furious_: he'd come _all that way_ and Mirage had taken him back to the start all too quickly. He hadn't finished exploring!

When she finally came to a stop it was way back in the room where he'd first met Cliff; but this time the curious noises were nowhere to be heard. Mirage pushed the two of them into a corner and forced them to sit, then she extended two little action figures, "Play with those." She commanded before she moved to sit down on a box.

With a magazine as her entertainment she proceeded to simply sit there; her overbearing presence would be enough to keep the two boys from trying anything… at least for a little while.

Cliff took the red doll from Fayt's hand and shoved the yellow one at him, "I'm the boy, you have to be the girl, ok?" But Fayt's pout told him that he was certainly _not_ ok; he tossed the yellow doll to the floor and reached out for the red one.

"Give it back, Cliff! That one's mine!" Mirage sighed as the two boys fought; but she was used to Cliff being a brat with other children, she couldn't honestly understand why Cliff hadn't started an argument with the other boy until he was under _her_ watch. She had half a mind to think that she was cursed when it came to children…

Fayt pouted, thumped both his legs on the ground, and stood up abruptly, "You're a _bad_ friend! I don't like you anymore!" Fayt moved across the room and sat himself down by a stack of boxes; and Cliff, for once, didn't try and make up with Fayt right away. Perhaps it was a combination of their fight and being trapped by Mirage that caused such tensions to run between them..? Neither of them cared, one way or another, at the moment.

Cliff started angrily at the red doll he'd taken from Fayt. He blamed _it_ for making Fayt move away from him and it didn't even look guilty or ashamed at what it had done; which made him all the more angry! It had this big, dopey grin on its face that just _begged_ for him to destroy it; and Cliff couldn't resist punishing it.

He whipped the doll across the room; it collided with the door and lay helplessly, and still in tact, on the floor not even a foot from where it had crashed, "Stupid toy." Cliff grumbled at it; it hadn't even broken from that crash!

The red toy _had_ to pay.

The blond got to his feet and quickly moved to grab it; Mirage looked up from her magazine when she saw Cliff move, but she saw the toy and returned to the article she was reading. Cliff snatched the toy from the floor and was about to crush it in his fingers when he was the door crack open.

He was startled by the movement and he almost jumped away for fear of being hit, but he heard an all too familiar voice whisper from the other side of the door, "Blond maggot, get over here." Cliff's eyes widened and he moved a little closer too the door; it was a slow movement so he wouldn't draw his elder's attention.

One crimson eye was peering through the crack he'd created, "Where's the little fool?" he hissed quietly, both insulting and angry at the same time; it was a tone that irked Cliff beyond any thing else. Albel just had this way of _seeming_ superior when he wasn't; and Cliff longer to punch that arrogance off his face.

Cliff glared right back at him, "Shut up you gay freak, get lost." He hissed, though he somehow managed to keep his tone down so Mirage wouldn't hear. He turned to head back to his corner when Albel spoke again.

The crimson eyed boy's tone was anything but insulted, it was that 'I'm better than you' complex kicking in; it was like he was too important to be insulted by anything Cliff had to say. This time, he really _did_ crush the toy in his hands, "Fine, fool; I don't need your help; you can stay here and I'll keep Fayt for myself."

That being said Albel threw open the door and charged in with a roar; no matter how young his voice might have sounded it still held a quality that sent both Mirage, and Fayt screaming in terror.

Mirage tripped as she scrambled to escape the monster charging her and several boxes went crashing to the floor; one of them went hurtling towards Fayt, but the boy was already scrambling around the room in his panic. It only caused him to trip and fall to the floor.

The avalanche of boxes buried Mirage; but thankfully, or perhaps not, the boxes weren't terribly heavy and she was beginning to push herself free. Albel worked quickly; with his task of distracting Mirage done he headed over to Fayt and grabbed his hand. The blue-haired boy struggled in his grasp, still afraid of the sudden attack of boxes and screaming, but Albel held on tightly to him.

Cliff stared in shock as Albel dragged Fayt out of the room; he really hadn't paid the chaos any mind, he was still hung up over what Albel had said before the incident. There was _no way_ he'd let Albel take Fayt for himself! Fayt's _his_ best friend!

Small fists clenched as Cliff hurried after the two other boys. He caught up to them quickly and pulled Fayt away from Albel, "Mine!" he growled possessively as he wrapped his arms around Fayt's shoulders.

Albel backed off, but with a look on his face that clearly said he'd won, "Alright, worm, have it your way." He shrugged indifferently and headed off down the hall back towards his lair. Fayt pouted, shrugged Cliff's arms off, and headed down the hall after him. (2)

"Fayt..?" Cliff cried worriedly; he certainly feared that Fayt was still mad at him, and didn't want to be friends.

"I want to explore!" Fayt said with the same, earlier used determination; he ran down the hall and Cliff quickly chased after him, though he ran faster when he heard Mirage stumble out of the box room. When they got to the room at the end of the hall Cliff shut and locked the door, though it was highly likely that she'd just go around to cut them off again…

Fayt stepped into the room and looked around curiously, "What's this room, Cliff..?"

(1) XD That's totally what everyone in school thought back in grade 7… XD

(2) Sorry! Albel had to go! But he'll be back!

Next Chapter: Fayt and Cliff play with the chocolate, and Albel returns!


End file.
